Sallma/BushBear:

Thanks for your response......just seems that the wheels of progress move ohhhhhhhh so slowly......infactions, seem to be increasing, probably because of the economy but also because of increased total numbers of people fishing.

That remains me....Why are the cost of Hunting license fees for "out of State hunters", 10 times the license fee for a "in State hunter" BUT the License fee's for any fishing or Shell fish license....almost the same as for instate license fees?

What a fast way to increase the $$$$$$$$$ into State coffers.....that and start collecting "sales tax" for products sold to both Oregon and Canadian vistors......

How stupid can a State leaders be????? Cause for sure...No Income Tax, will ever make it........duh, people aren't that un-informed.

Vote.......Vote smart!!!!!!

This has been very informational and addresses several very serious issues. But Drifter and Sebastes have put me in a dilemma. Do I believe that WDFW fines should go back to the agency? The argument for doing this is that it will make writing tickets worthy of the officers' efforts and help fund additional LE - something we seem to desire to stem wanton criminal behavior and thereby protect our wildlife resources. The other side of the argument is that officers who are dependent upon that revenue will be more inclined to write pissy tickets over issues that should have been, instead, an opportunity for informing the public - a positive experience. In order to steer a middle ground I suggest that where there is a ticket issued for failure to obtain some type of permit or license that the fine include the cost of the missing permit/license and that only that portion go back to the agency (if that is not already the case).

As for the CRC I have a real problem with that endorsement being morphed into an ongoing and increased revenue source. Keep in mind that it was created at the request of the recreational crabbing community to document the actual amount of crab caught recreationally in Puget Sound for the express purpose of addressing the grossly unfair allocation of the State's share between commercial and recreational crabbers. That goal has been achieved.

If the intent is that we now want to use that instrument to provide ongoing LE and technical positions then I have the following thoughts:

1. Recreational crabbers already pay exponentially more to WDFW per crab caught than does the commercial fleet. Maybe we need to see a substantial increase in the commercial license fees and/or landing fees and be sure that all of that money goes into the management of the overall crab fishery.

2. All recreational crabbers must purchase a shellfish license. If we are going to morph the P.S. endorsement into a vehicle for funding ongoing management of this fishery then I suggest that this approach be applied to all other activities licensed by WDFW (note: this seems to be the situation with the Columbia River and tribs endorsement). How about a razor clam endorsement to fund LE and technical efforts for that popular activity? Deer endorsement? Elk endorsement? And the list goes on and on.....Is this really what we want to do?

I also agree with JohnQ that outside monies should not be subject to the 15% Financial Management fee. Period. And that any across the board cuts should apply only to General Funds monies. Looks to me like WDFW is being punished because of the amount of outside monies coming into the agency. We need to remember that much of that outside money is generated by Federal taxes on manufacturers of certain outdoor related goods. Those empowering Federal Acts and their taxes were initiated and supported by sportsmen and sportswomen; safe to say it is OUR money.

Finally, it is apparent that WDFW LE folks are increasingly being utilized as general law enforcement either as first responders or support. My problem with that is the funding. Maybe WDFW should be able to be reimbursed by the State for LE time plus OH for any general LE efforts (that is, any that are not directly related to enforcement of our fish and wildlife regulations).

My head hurts thinking about this.....

Done.

fp

Lots of things to think about.

In my other life, half the fines went to the agency and half to the general fund. If a SO, PD, or other state officer (Parks, etc) wrote a fish and wildlife ticket, half went to the general fund and half to the agency that wrote the ticket.

An interesting concept to add the cost of a license to a no license charge and have that money go to the agency.

I'd like to see an easier ticket process and some clarification on fine amounts. I'd also like to see a much cleaner license suspension process. Bad guys often don't care about the fines (you might be surprised at the amount of cash on hand in the field that lets folks pay penalty assessments) but they do care about the possibility of losing license privileges. A change in the RCW could free up court time and officer time if there were processes in place for mail in tickets. A lot of fish and wildlife crimes can be handled outside the court system, but that requires a mindset change by the state.

PSRFE program money gets a 15.91% cut off the top for "overhead" costs. That currently takes $347,333 dollars out of the PSRFE programs that could be better used within the program. That is, according to contacts, a minimal amount of skim. Many other WDFW programs get hit at rates above 25% and some state programs are paying upwards of 60% and more out of their programs.

I agree that wildlife funds should not be cut as that is our money. The WDFW gets over 40% of its income from state general funds. A lot of that is based on the old split between Fisheries and Game. Fisheries was general fund based and the public subsidized a lot of its work. Commercial license fees wouldn't and still don't cover their costs to the state. Game received some general funds (I don't know how much) but most of its income was from license sales.

Sebastes,
The issue with the Snohomish County District Court system is that they no longer want agencies to actually issue citations on the spot, they'd rather have the court mail the citation. So that is why a deputy or even another WDFW Officer wouldn't know if an individual has been cited.

Snohomish County has done this for all law violations, most other municipal and district courts are starting to do this with mandatory court appearance crimes (most WDFW are not mandatory appearances, just fines). The reasoning is that when you are issued a mandatory court citation (for example underage drinking) you must appear in court within 15 days. If the officer does not physically issue the citation but rather sends it to the court, the court has 2 years to file charges on you. Courts are doing this in a way to ease their scheduling. So for example you could potentially be contacted by LE for underage drinking at 20.5 and not have your first court appearance till you are 22.5 (2 years later).

Excellent informative thread. Survey completed.

Vote of the people.....looks like some serious cuts are to be made. Maybe this might speed up the process on ways to increase funding to some Departments.

1. Increase license fees for "out of state" fishermen, clam diggers, crab fishermen. Use the same formula, as per hunting license fees.

2. Now is the time to allow a 2nd rod for those wishing to purchase a "extra license". The would be good when fishing for salmon.

3. Use of boat launching area.....need to have a license/permit sticker.

I'm sure there are others?????

In the last century, there were issues concerning disparities between resident and non-resident license fees, especially as they related to recreational activities on public lands.

My recollection of the outcome was a ratio of not more than a 10-1 on hunting licenses and 3-1 on fishing. I think most states are in that ballpark. WA could bump the NR fishing licenses to get closer to the 3-1.

With next years huge budget deficit, and basically no new taxes coming, I have a feeling next year is going to be a bad year for WDFW Enforcement funding.......

Bushbear:

Oregon.....Resident $33.00.....Non-Res $106.25 2 rods License $17.00

Idaho.......Resdient $25.75.....Non Res $ 98.25 2 rods Permit $13.75

WA.........Res. Comb.$46.20....Non Res $ 89.40 2 rods(lakes) $24.00

wow....fee tables for WA State...goes on and on.........wow!!!

Increase needed for Non Resident.....

I agree. WA prices for NRs could be bumped up some. I suspect we'll be seeing something in this session, not only for NRs but for us, too. Hope the legislature looks at the license fee structure for the commercial licenses, too.

I think it would be idiotic not to think that there will be an increase in both resident and nonresident licesnes this coming year, but it honestly won't help much considering how big the deficit is.

I think it might even be a good time to stop the "free" vehicle use permits. Make it so everyone has to pay $10.

Enforcement will be taking a big hit

I think nearly everyone expects to see some sort of hunting and fishing fee increases. I also would be those hunters' and fishers' benefit to lobby strongly in support for those increases PROVIDED that all revenue genreated from those increases be earmarked to be driectly used to support fishing and hunting in this state.

Tight lines
Curt

I think ALL WDFW license fees should go into the wildlife cash fund and not the general fund.

As I understand the statutes, in addition to the commercial licenses, all resident adult saltwater and all annual razor clam and shellfish license dollars are deposited in the General Fund. I believe this is a holdover from the old Dept of Fisheries statutes.

Looking at the differences in resident license fees in OR, ID, and WA, I think that WDFW and the WA Legislature need to give careful consideration to how much more WA can reasonably charge its residents for licenses when OR and ID typically offer better quality and quantity hunting and fishing. I don't object to what I pay for my WA licenses, but I'm thinking of doing more of my fishing out of state because of the quality that's available. It's not the cost of non-resident OR and ID licenses that keep me from fishing there. It's the amount of free time I have available to travel there.

Sg

Done. Plus comments...

Filled out this survey when it came in on my e-mail...with comments. Seems many of us are on the same page.